I watched with bated breath from the shadows of an alley as another Gerudo soldier rushed past. I tried not to think about the blood that I could see dripping off of her spear as she went by. I waited a few moments before finally letting out a sigh of relief. I then quickly grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him out into the street, following the directions that he was steadily feeding me.

We had been traveling like this for a good ten minutes, darting back and forth between ransacked homes and shady alleyways in order to stay hidden. It was probably the longest ten minutes of my life. Oddly enough though, now that I had someone I was actively protecting and being brave for I felt much less afraid. I had a renewed sense of purpose that nearly overshadowed the overwhelming sense of unease I felt from being tasked with protecting someone completely helpless in a battle—a task that surely exceeded my skill level.

Apparently there was a small bridge at the eastern edge of town that this kid's little sister liked to play under and go to whenever she wanted to be alone. It sounded like a decent hiding place, but I wasn't sure it'd be good enough. I was hoping that all the chaos had given her a chance to slip away. I didn't want to think about what would happen if we got there only to discover a corpse. We'd already seen more than a few lying in the streets.

We had nearly reached the edge of town and I could see the bridge from maybe a hundred yards away. There was no cover between the wall we were pressed up against and the bridge, but after a quick look around I didn't see any Gerudo in the area. I figured now was as good a time as any as I grabbed the boys arm again and moved us quickly but quietly over to the bridge. We reached it without incident, and I found myself holding my breath as we worked our way around the edge of the bridge and began to peer under.

I looked in and immediately saw a small form crawling even further back into the darkness of the bridge, pushing itself up against the wall. My heart nearly broke as I took in the sight of this girl who couldn't have been older than four. Her brown hair was tousled and she had dirt smeared all across her simple dress. She clutched a doll to her chest fervently, and her eyes were wide with a look of absolute terror. All of that terror quickly melted away, however, when the boy rushed out from behind me over to the girl.

"Maple!" the boy cried as he practically tackled his younger sister with a hug. "I was so worried about you."

The girl, who for her part had likely been silent as a mouse for quite a while now, was unable to produce any words as she suddenly bursted into tears and began to sob. I was slightly worried that the noise would attract attention, but what was I supposed to do?

"It's OK, it's OK," the boy cooed over and over again in an attempt to calm down his younger sister. "I found us a hero! Everything's going to be fine."

The girl finally managed to quell her sobbing enough to look up at me with a sniffle. Her large eyes were expectant, hopeful even. They made me uneasy. I took a few steps closer, having to stoop down a bit to get further in. I looked at the little girl, Maple, and tried to give her my most reassuring smile before nodding at her slightly. I then shifted my attention to the boy.

"You two should get out of here," I said. "Get a few miles away and find some place to hide. Soldiers will be here soon so just wait for the rest of them to arrive, alright? I'd stay with you but I've got to save as many people as I can." The boy nodded intently and I stood up to leave without a word.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hero," the boy called out just before I stepped out from under the bridge. I stopped and turned to look at him. "Thank you." At that I merely smiled and nodded before turning and heading straight back towards the center of town.

I didn't really have any idea how to save the most possible people without getting myself killed, but there were a few things I had noticed while walking throughout the town: Firstly, most of the homes and buildings were very spread out which I figured was a good thing because it would give citizens more time to react to far away danger. Second, there were a lot of corpses in the streets, but not nearly as many as I was afraid of or would have expected. Third, and most important, was that I had noticed many of the Gerudo soldiers moving towards what I assumed to be the center of town. If they were all in one place, it would be easier to make sure they weren't all killing people. At least, I hoped so. The logic made sense in my head, but all of my thoughts were scrambled and rushed.

I followed the carnage as best as I could, making my way in the same direction I had seen all the Gerudo traveling. Every now and then I could hear a scream from somewhere far away or the sound of glass breaking, but things were mostly quiet. It left me feeling more unsettled than anything else.

As I was rounding a street corner, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a Gerudo come barreling out of a house maybe twenty feet down the road at the exact same time. I ducked back behind the side of a house, praying to the Goddesses that she hadn't seen me. After a few moments of silence, I decided to chance a peek around the corner. When I looked, I saw the Gerudo leading a chain of Hylians all tied together at the hands and feet by rope. It was a family of five. They were all gagged and I could see tears rushing out the eyes of the two children and the mother as they produced a few muffled sobs. There was an elderly woman in the back who was practically being dragged along. Even this group seemed to be following the same pattern of movement as the rest of the Gerudo. I resolved to follow them until I could think of the least dangerous way to free the family. I couldn't go letting myself get stabbed by a spear every time I needed to land a killing blow. The blood that was still slowly flowing from the wound in my side was a reminder of that.

I made my way as quietly as possible much the way I had been doing before, watching the family as closely as I could. It wasn't long before they convened with another two groups of civilians bound together being led by a single Gerudo. I cursed under my breath for not having taken action before. Now freeing these people would be even more difficult. All I could do now was keep following and hope that I would think of some way to create a large enough diversion so that the families could escape. I didn't like my chances, but it was all I had.

I followed them quietly for a little bit longer before they finally reached the center of town. As the town square slowly came into view, I finally understood why I hadn't seen as many bodies in the streets as I expected. Kneeling in the town square, tied up in groups of five or six, were dozens of citizens, all looking various states of injured and terrified. Most of them were gagged, and all them that I could see were bound at the hands and feet. I worked my way into an ally off to the side were I could watch from a distance. The angle didn't give me a good view of the number of Gerudo, but it allowed me to watch most of the citizens. From there, I could hear Gerudo exchanging words in a language I couldn't quite understand. There was one voice in particular, louder and just a touch deeper, that I heard ring out more often than the rest. After a few tense minutes, I finally heard that voice call out in a language I understood.

"Well, this is a sight that certainly brings a great deal of joy to my soldiers and I," the voice called out. It was still definitively feminine, but I instantly hated the cold, mocking tone she spoke with.

"So many Hyilians, defeated easily by just a few Gerudo. You really are a pathetic people," she said. "Do you want to know the really funny part? The Kingdom that each of you places so much faith in is what failed you most in the end. We caught some Hylian scouts a week ago but decided to let them go. We wanted to meet the might of Hyrule in its full strength. And yet, that selfish king didn't send even a single solider."

At that, several gasps and sobs, most of them muffled, rang out from the crowd. I gritted my teeth, hating to know that she was right. But, at the very least, there was technically one soldier present. I tried desperately to think of some sort of way to create a diversion, but nothing feasible came to mind.

"However, we Gerudo are a warrior people," the voice went on. "We believe in survival of the strongest, and it appears that there is at least one skilled combatant among you. Near the edge of town, we found the bodies of two of our own." I felt my own stomach drop a bit at the mention of that. I felt stupid for not having hid the bodies, but I was in a rush. I hoped that such a simple oversight wouldn't come back to bite me, but I had a bad feeling in my gut.

"So, in true Gerudo spirit, I'm going to make an offer to all of you. One last chance to save your life," she said and I felt my heart jump. "If any of you can defeat me in one on one combat, I'll let you all go free. So then, who is going to step forward?"

My first thought was that this had to be a trap. They wanted to lure the best fighter out into the open now and kill them so that they wouldn't be surprised later, or something along those lines. It made sense to me, at least. My second thought was that, even if it wasn't a trap, if it was just something this Gerudo was doing because she was bored, they still wouldn't free the town if she lost. There was no way they would release them. Not a Goddess damned chance. And even if I did step forward I had barely won my previous battles. If this woman was the leader she would probably be leagues above the rest of the fighters. I wouldn't stand a chance.

No, as hard as it would be, I needed to stay hidden. There was nothing I could do, and I wouldn't be doing anyone any good if I died here along with all of these people. "I should just slink away now and get out while I had the chance." That's exactly what I was thinking. I wasn't sure if I would be able to live with myself afterwards, but at least I would have the chance to make up for it. I had made up my mind: I was going to run.

So, with that intention in mind, I stood up slowly and walked out of the ally right into the center of town, making myself visible to everyone in sight.

"Are you sure you want it to be one on one?" I said in a voice that barely sounded my own. "It'd probably be more fair if there were five of you." I kept my eyes facing forward on the massive Gerudo woman standing at the front of the crowd of Hylians, but I could feel the eyes of every single person in the town square on me as I walked forward. There were maybe twenty to thirty Gerudo standing at the front and spaced intermittently in the crowd of at least one hundred civilians. Inwardly, I was panicking to the point that I was pretty sure I would have a heart attack before the Gerudo even got a chance to fight me. My legs had simply carried me forward before I even had a moment to think, and the words had spilled confidently out of my mouth as if someone else had taken control of my body. I expected my legs to be shaking furiously as I walked, but my body was oddly still.

"Short in stature, blonde hair, an unimpressive physique. You must be the Hylian warrior everyone's been speaking of," the Gerudo said looking me up and down. "Link, is it?"

At the mention of the other Link, the crowd gasped once again. Suddenly, I understood the point of this whole operation. The other Link had gone missing from the frontline of the war which must have unsettled Ganondorf. They were hoping to draw him out by attacking a defenseless town. Their plan had nearly worked too. Instead they just had me.

"I hate to disappoint, but the resemblance is only a coincidence," I said as I drew my sword and shield off of my back. Honestly, I doubted she believed that I wasn't the same person she thought me to be, but I didn't need her to believe me. "I guess you'll just have to make due with me."

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to see how disappointing you really are," she said with a sneer. "Although, I believe you said this fight would be more fair if you fought five of us at once. Well, my dear Hylian, ask and you shall receive." She then motioned with her hand and five slightly smaller but still intimidating soldiers stepped forward. Two of them held spears much like the two I'd already fought, but the other three all wielded two scimitars a piece.

"Sending your lackeys to do your dirty work?" I called out as I began to take a defensive stance. I had my eyes glued to the five warriors who were slowly approaching me, practically licking their lips in anticipation. "Whatever happened to that Gerudo warrior spirit?"

"A soldier worthy of my attention should be able to defeat at least five of my warriors at once," she said. At this point my five opponents were drawing near. In the meantime, many more Gerudo women I hadn't seen before had stepped forward to form a large circle around us, effectively squashing any hope of a daring escape. "If you want a duel with me, you'll have to earn it."

At that, one of the Gerudo wielding two scimitars charged forward suddenly. Her movements were surprisingly quick and I was caught off guard. I had expected them all to continue approaching slowly until they were all in range. I guess the anticipation had simply been too much for this particular woman.

I instinctively blocked her first attack with my shield and I was satisfied by how little weight I felt behind the attack. I could deflect these blows without losing my footing at all. Her second strike came immediately after the first from the opposite side. I brought my sword up, blocking her attack effectively. Thinking quickly, I slid my sword up her blade so that it was pressed between the hilt and the blade of my own sword. Then, in one smooth motion, I twisted my hand downward, putting her in an awkward and overextended position. Her left side now wide open, I kicked out with my leg, catching the bend in her knee and forcing her onto the ground. This was a technique that Link had shown me, and it came naturally without a single thought.

Not wanting to lose this opportunity to thin the herd, I maneuvered behind the Gerudo and immediately arced my sword downward towards her exposed back. Just before the moment of impact, another blade came arcing in to deflect the blow. I looked to my right and saw another of the scimitar wielding Gerudo. She had made it just in time and began a flurry of blows. Her attacks were rapid and sloppy, but there were so many of them that I was forced to go on the defensive until I could make some space for myself.

I used my shield to powerfully deflect an attack and used the moment to lunge backwards and create some space. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I saw something streaking towards my head and barely had enough time to duck as the blade of a spear swept through the space that my head had once occupied. I quickly looked around and realized that all five of my opponents had effectively closed the distance and were beginning to corner me.

At this point, I could feel my heart pounding furiously. I was starting to realize that there was absolutely no way out of this situation. I tried to think of a way to create a diversion, but my mind was still blank on the subject. Before I could collect myself, another Gerudo charged in and began making attacks. With my mind so frazzled, all I could do was react to their attacks. I was on the defensive, darting around, narrowly blocking attacks as I tried to continue to maneuver in such a way that wouldn't let them surround me. It was the best I could manage.

I carried on like that for as long as I could, but eventually their numbers and quickness got the better of me. I found myself in the middle of a shrinking circle, spinning around rapidly, trying in vain to guess where the next strike would come from. Terror began to overtake my body as I deflected a blow from my left that I just barely had time to stop. In practically the same instant that I deflected the attack, I felt a searing hot pain in my right arm as a blade slashed from my shoulder to my elbow. I slashed out with my sword to drive them away, but no sooner had I done so that I felt a jab in my left calf. My leg was shaking, but I refused to drop down to a knee.

The following injuries occurred over what was probably the next thirty seconds, but it feltlike much longer than that as I frantically spun around, deflecting lethal blows only to receive a stab in some unprotected portion of my body: slash across my right ribs, shallow stab in my left ribs, slash across the back of my right knee, cut above the left eye, punch to the jaw, countless slashes across my right arm and left shoulder, one in my left collarbone, a stab in my left thigh, and kick in stomach that finally succeeded in knocking me to the floor.

I stumbled over and immediately tried to regain my footing, but my legs were shaking and had never felt so weak in all of my life. I was dizzy from the blood loss, and the sword which had felt light when I'd picked it out seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. I looked up at my attackers as they approached, each wearing a menacing grin. I remember thinking that even though I was terrified, I wanted to make sure I didn't look afraid. I couldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Hmph, the Hylian hero huh?" one of the Gerudo said as she stepped forward ahead of the rest. "I should have known that a single Hylian could never match us in combat. What a disappointment."

With that, she raised her scimitar high above her head, preparing for the last blow. I was prepared to accept it too. I had been in way over my head from the start. They had made a mistake in choosing me. I just hoped they could find someone worthy to take my place. At least I had saved those two kids.

"Y-You can do it Link!" A small voice cried out. I looked in shock through the legs of the Gerudo into the face of a child. I couldn't see well from the blood that had crept into my eyes, but her bright blonde hair was visible even in the early morning light from a distance. There was a shout from a nearby soldier who began pushing through the crowd, but even still she went on yelling. "Don't give up! Heroes never give up!"

With that, a chorus of cheers from the crowd began to ring out into the previously quiet air. The Gerudo tried to quell their voices, but their were too many of them. So many people, pinning their hopes on me, begging me to get through this moment. It was then that I remembered why I had come here in the first place. It was to save these people. This was much bigger than myself. I couldn't afford to lose, because it was more than just my life at stake. No matter how badly my wounds hurt, no matter how tired I felt, no matter how afraid I was, failure wasn't an option. Not anymore.

The Gerudo above me snorted as she eyed the crowd over her shoulder. "Stupid kid. People who are about to die should learn to keep their mouth's shu—"

Her sentence was interrupted by my shield colliding with her face with more force than I thought I could muster. I had sprung to my feet, feeling reinvigorated. I charged forward, taking the open space in the center of my attackers that had been made from shield bashing the one. I remembered a technique the other Link had taught me before. I hadn't remembered it at first because he had only shown it to me once since he thought it was a bit too advanced for me at the time, but I remembered his words clearly.

"Listen Link, this move should only be attempted when you're completely surrounded by enemies as a last resort. If executed improperly without striking everyone around you, you'll leave yourself wide open for a counter attack. I'll only show you once for now, so pay close attention."

"No point in avoiding risks now," I thought to myself.

At this point, the five Gerudo had refocused themselves and worked their way around me once again. Instead of trying to move around or charge through one of them, I simply planted my feet, placing my shield out in front of me and holding me sword straight out from my body as far back as I could hold it.

I knew the timing had to be perfect. The three with scimitars would probably be the only ones to fully enter my range. I would need to aim for the spear heads of the other two.

The soldiers all inched forward at an agonizingly slow pace. I tightened my grip on my sword, waiting for just the right moment. One of the scimitar users was in my blindspot. I would have to rely partially on sound.

Suddenly, the two scimitar users I could see lunger forward, and I could hear the shifting of feet as the one behind me pushed off the ground. At that exact moment, I began arcing my sword in a horizontal line from my back across my front. I swung with all of my might, tearing through any material the strike met. I let the momentum carry my back foot off of the ground and spin my body around on my pivot foot. I felt several impacts as I spun before placing my back foot back on the ground and grinding my momentum to a halt.

When I looked up, three of the five Gerudo were on the ground, each with a singular massive cut raked across their bodies. The spear of one had been sent flying, and the spear tip of the other had been completely cut off. By some miracle of the Goddesses, the spin attack had worked.

The other two Gerudo immediately began to back away as I glared daggers at them through my blood and sweat covered bangs. I must've looked like an animal. I certainly felt like one.

"So," I said, looking up at the Gerudo leader as the rest of her soldiers struggled to contain their Hylian prisoners. "How about that duel?"

She merely scoffed at me before raising her hand absentmindedly. Before I knew it, more than ten more soldiers had stepped forward and were approaching me, this time quickly. They had decided I was too dangerous to play around with. I raised my weapons, readying myself for one last battle. I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't be able to get myself out of this one, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Suddenly, an arrow streaked just past my head, sinking into the stomach of one of the Gerudo advancing towards me. There was a moment of quiet as the confusion came over everyone before a dozen more arrows came flying followed by the clomping of hooves and the battle cry of soldiers charging.

Flying pell mell into the square was maybe twenty soldiers on horseback, each dressed in the military fatigues of Hyrule's military. They charged in with lances and swords, cutting down Gerudo in record time. Leading the charge was a young warrior with long dirty-blond hair sporting a green tunic overtop of chainmail. The blue shield on his arm and purple hilted blade in his left hand looked pristine as he leapt off of his horse and faced the Gerudo leader one on one. The outfit was completed by a floppy, pointed green hat that rested atop his head.

The other Link—the real Link—had arrived.

Author's note: Well, the best thing I can say about this chapter is that it didn't take me super long to update. I guess I like it. It's exciting, it's got a cliche "you can do it!" anime moment. I like that stuff. I hope you all like it too. Feel free to drop a review and tell me how you felt about the chapter or about the story as a whole. Is it so cliche that it's cringey? Is it the best thing since sliced bread? Let me know. I'm very tired. Read on peeps.